Fujifilm x100v horrible unreliably autofocus

[Tor_B]

I've been shooting since 2001
Currently I own following autofocus cameras: an original X100, the X100V,  XT1, The original Leica Q, and Sony A7III

The X100V is by a landslide the most unpredictable and unreliably out of the bunch when it comes to autofocus. 
It get's easily confused when subjects are between 5-20 meters away. 
The autofocus miss and end up on a distance between 2-3 meters, when the real object is actually more then 7 meters away. This again resulting in a slightly soft subject, while the foreground is nice and sharp.  

I shoot most street, so i don't need monster fast AF. As a matter of fact, the original x100 has ben perfectly fine, and I never ended up with an image out of focus with that. 
Same goes for both the XT1 or the XT2. 

This is how i use the camera, and it's pretty basic. 
I use singel autofocus point.  The next smallest box.
I use an F-stop at around F4 to F8 99% of the time, where F5,6 is my sweat spot. I shoot mostly in good sunny conditions where the ISO never goes above the 400 mark. 
I normally focus at an object at the distance my subject will be, and wait until subject walk into the frame then shoot the image.  Or i do a focus  recompose. 
This works 100% of the time whit all other cameras then the x100v. 

I notice the same behaviour on an X-T3, but thought the camera was faulty and end up trading it in.

And you should be able to easily recreate it. 

1. Activate the focus distance scale on your X100V/xT3/XT4
2. Set F stop to  F 5.6 or higher (make sure its good light outside) 
2. Make sure u got a target at say 5 meters and one at 10+ meters (both with excellent contrast )
3. Now,  focus between them and shoot image after focus is acquired. Watch where the focus point lands on the distance scale from time to time. 
you will se it jumps around and now and then completely misses, like set the focus at 3 meters and you  subject is more then 20 meters away.  
Watch the image and see how many it will fall short on. 

So is there  any one out there that recognize this and have a fix for it? 
 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Tor_B

[John D]

I seriously doubt that what I am going to say will solve your problem (sorry), but its related so I thought I'd throw this in.

Overall I love the X100v (and also have a Sony (a/7/r/4).  I also usually use single shot autofocus also smallest or, more often, next smallest box.  My frustration with the focus is keeping the point of focus in the middle of the frame.  I want to start each shot with the focus point being directly in the middle and then moving it when/if I deem necessary.  Whether I use the touch screen to center it, or if I use the button (lever? I don't know what to call it) - give it a double click to center it - it moves but... it doesnt stay there. Its. just too easy to touch either the lever or the screen as one is shooting and then the next shot(s) are crap. 

There is no way I've found to actually lock it in a way that stays locked in the center (on the other hand, my Sony does this very well). Its too easy to touch the screen or the lever accidentally.  So, if I'm shooting quickly sometimes i miss the fact that it moved and the shot is out of focus because its focussing on one corner or another.  

I assume you would have detected this so, apologies that this does not address your issue. But, if others reading this have had the same issue or same frustration, please weigh in

[jo li]

I'm quite a new be to photography in general and the x100v specifically - so I assumed its me doing things wrong... But seems I'm not the only one.

@Tor_B Did you find ways to get better results? 

Anyone else? 

 

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[DarnGoodPhotos]

On 6/22/2022 at 9:22 PM, John D said:

I seriously doubt that what I am going to say will solve your problem (sorry), but its related so I thought I'd throw this in.

Overall I love the X100v (and also have a Sony (a/7/r/4).  I also usually use single shot autofocus also smallest or, more often, next smallest box.  My frustration with the focus is keeping the point of focus in the middle of the frame.  I want to start each shot with the focus point being directly in the middle and then moving it when/if I deem necessary.  Whether I use the touch screen to center it, or if I use the button (lever? I don't know what to call it) - give it a double click to center it - it moves but... it doesnt stay there. Its. just too easy to touch either the lever or the screen as one is shooting and then the next shot(s) are crap. 

There is no way I've found to actually lock it in a way that stays locked in the center (on the other hand, my Sony does this very well). Its too easy to touch the screen or the lever accidentally.  So, if I'm shooting quickly sometimes i miss the fact that it moved and the shot is out of focus because its focussing on one corner or another.  

I assume you would have detected this so, apologies that this does not address your issue. But, if others reading this have had the same issue or same frustration, please weigh in

You can turn off the touch screen, and if you press and hold the lever you can adjust its setting.